About a year ago, they broadened the types of plastics that would be collected for recycling from just two types (PET and high density polyethylene) to everything but three types (PVC, polystyrene and “other”). The reason they did it was that recyclers were offering higher prices for such items and tipping fees for landfill trash were continuing to escalate.

In fact, the economics of trash vs. recycling is pushing the township to decrease trash pickups in favor of increasing recycling pickups. Surely, North Carolina must be facing a similar squeeze on increasing tipping fees for landfills — how is it they don’t see increasing recycling as a way to better balance their overall waste removal costs?